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Il Mascalzone (Putney)

Recently my friend Harry (of Hashtagcake fame) came to stay so obviously we had to go on a food based adventure!

Since skiing I’d been trying to be healthy, less wine and cheese and more healthy food. Generally I’d been succeeding so when Harry said she was coming to stay we thought we’d be good and planned to go to Borough market to buy some healthy ingredients and then go home and cook up a feast. However this plan didn’t quite work as we didn’t end up meeting until later than planned so we ended up going to Putney for some drinks. After a long catch up over a few classes of wine we became rather peckish so headed off in search of some food.

Il Mascalzone is on Putney High Street and is the sort of place you might just wander past. I went there for a friend’s birthday a few years ago and have been there quite a few times since as the pizza and pasta on offer is amazing! It’s a pretty long menu so can take a while to decide what you want but luckily for me, Harry is on my food wavelength so we chose a few things to share. First up was the prosciutto and burrata. Burrata is one of my favourite things and this certainly didn’t disappoint! Hundreds of slices of smokey prosciutto with a ball of the creamiest burrata on top of it.

As you bite into the burrata you taste the most mouth watering mozzerella and are then greeted with the creamy filling. It really was so delicious and fresh and went so well with the generous amounts of prosciutto.

Having devoured the starter we then moved onto the main courses. The great thing about eating out with someone who loves food as much as me is that they’re more than happy to share things so that they can also taste everything on the menu!

As we’d been walking to the restaurant I’d been going on about how great the calzone is so we obviously had to get that! It’s basically a pizza base covered in tomato sauce, topped with ham, salami, mushrooms and mozzerella which is then folded over and baked to perfection. It’s like a pizza pie – so delicious!

It’s just so delicious, stuffed with heaps of ingredients, every mouthful is an absolute treat. Some calzones aren’t so great as the filling doesn’t reach the edges but this one is not like that, it’s literally filled to the brim! We also decided to share the gnocchi alla sorrentina, which is potato gnocchi in a tomato and marscapone sauce. It was also incredibly delicious. Soft gnocchi in a creamy sauce.

By the time we’d eaten all this we were absolutely stuffed and sadly had no room for pudding. The portions at Il Mascalzone are so generous, we probably should have just shared the starter and one main but we had no regrets as it meant we got to try a bit of everything! The place is so welcoming, the staff are mostly Italian (they even bring their pizza chefs over from the south of Italy especially!) and are so friendly. If it’s someone’s birthday then they go especially crazy and it’s a real spectacle. Great for a catch up with a friend, supper with a big group or even somewhere to take your kids for a proper taste of Italian food. I know there are lots of chains on every high street which do a similar style of food and they all serve their purpose but they are always the same as each other. As well as excellent food, Il Mascalzone has some personality and the prices are really reasonable too, mains range from about £7-12. Long story short, if you’re in Putney (or Edgware where they have a second branch) then head to Il Mascalzone, you definitely won’t regret it!